The open source scan converter is a Scart/Component/VGA to HDMI converter specifically designed with retro games consoles in mind. The main feature of this device is its low latency which is essential when playing the old games as timing is often critical.
Before buying this device I went through all the usual scart converters that you find on eBay. The dirt cheap ones don’t do RGB signal so these were completely useless. The next one up was actually recommended on a bunch of forums as a reasonable scart to HDMI converter, but I tried three different brandings of this device and had the same issue with all of them. The picture was always offset to the side of the screen and was clipping the right side of the image. Very annoying!!
The final budget solution actually worked in that it gave me a clear image centred on the screen. But there are no options on the device for scaling or anything so it is fairly basic. I have used a couple of these in my collection for Jaguar,PS2 and Saturn era consoles.
But for the rest of the consoles on my main display I decided to give the OSSC a go. I got one on sale from Amazon for £115. The picture quality is stunning and the number of config options to play with will keep you busy for hours! One of the other features that I really like is the ability to turn on scanlines. These can be set as horizontal or vertical and you can also adjust the intensity. This is of course down to personal preference but I think some faint horizontal scanlines on the Mega Drive playing Sonic, look absolutely fantastic.
The OSSC doesn’t only do scart either, it also has a component input and a VGA Input. The VGA I have utilised for the Dreamcast and again this gives me a great image on the screen.
Buying one of these devices is fairly pricey. Buying one for each console would be insane, so to get around this I also purchased a Hydra automatic scart switcher which you can read about here.
I don’t want to do an in depth review here as there are loads of them out there already to convince you this is the device you need. But let me assure you, it is!!
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